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Towels?

125 replies

LettuceP · 15/11/2018 11:11

Another thread about washing bedding just reminded me that I've been meaning to ask this.

What do you do about washing towels? Does each person in your family have their own towel and you wash them together? How often do you wash them?

We have clean towels in the airing cupboard and get one out as needed. For the kids I hang them on the radiator in their room after use and use them once more then put them in the washing basket. Me and DH try to do the same but usually end up slinging them in the basket after one use. Tbh it's only a few years ago that I learned you don't have to wash them after every use. They get washed with clothes, I don't seperate towels or bedding. I only seperate by colours and some things go on a hand wash. I do all washing at 40 degrees but I think I need to start separating things more and doing some washes at 30.

I'm trying to cut down on washing because I know I do way too much and we need to save money and I'd love to have less to do 😁
Also what about clothes? How many wears before you wash them. T-shirts, socks and pants are 1 wear then wash but what about jeans, trousers, jumpers, bras etc?

OP posts:
RaininSummer · 17/11/2018 16:14

Pissedoff... See that makes sense but a lot of the stories above seem to be a blanket 'wash every time' type thing.

ILoveHumanity · 17/11/2018 16:19

Pissed off, wear a vest under with half sleeves instead of the standard sleeveless to help with the sweat.

Pissedoffdotcom · 17/11/2018 16:22

ILoveHumanity so do it. Sadly doesn't always help 🙈 even if it does still means one top to wash after one use tho as even if i can wear the tee shirt again i can't wear the vest.

Pissedoffdotcom · 17/11/2018 16:23

Ffs bad type sorry. That was meant to say i do (wear a vest top). I'm not drunk i swear

raisinsraisins · 17/11/2018 16:25

I don’t know how you manage to fit so much into your washing machines? I do at least 1 wash a day but only wash bedding and towels fortnightly. School uniforms daily, DH shirts daily, but rest of clothes and my clothes get worn 2-3 times before washing. I think too much washing ruins clothes after time anyway.

LettuceP · 17/11/2018 16:28

Well this thread has definitely been an eye opener. I used to wash everything apart from bed linen after one wear/use until I found out it wasn't the standard thing to do. But reading this has made me realise I still do way too much washing.

Going to make some changes and hopefully save effort, money and do better for the environment as well.

OP posts:
ILoveHumanity · 17/11/2018 16:37

pissedoff oh I was assuming people count vests as underwear too when they say they wash them daily.

Do they not ?

OP also I decided to choose Most my underwear/DH underwear/baby underwear to be white.. so that I can dash them in with bedsheets or towels( which are always white too) so that I can have them on a hotter cycle with her towels/bed linen as they have the most bacteria I guess.

I do have some colourful underwear too to compensate for in between washes.

Pissedoffdotcom · 17/11/2018 16:45

ILoveHumanity tbh i don't know many folk who wear vests so not sure 🤣

ILoveHumanity · 17/11/2018 16:58

pissedodf oh oh that case I’m not surprised people wash tops daily 😂

That’s a bit surprising actually to me.

I’ve always thought wearing a vest is standard to not have to wash tops as frequently so that they’re not ruined. Also so that you don’t prespire on them.

BinglyBunglyBoops · 17/11/2018 18:19

A tip from my sister's ex. Take a couple of flannels to dry yourself with after a bath or shower - they'll get the worst off and can be washed straightaway

The worst of what?? Clean water? They get washed straight away? What do you think will happen? They’ll crawl off?

Seriously...... just stop and think how ridiculous you sound. Hmm

NoIsACompleteAnswerSometimes · 17/11/2018 18:20

Also what do you do with things that you have worn but are going to wear again before you wash them? Do you put them back in the wardrobe/drawers with the clean stuff?

Makes my arsehole pucker just thinking of this!! My kids do it, and occasionally my husband with his jumpers, can't bear to think about it. I have a stool in the bedroom especially for clothes I'm wearing later/tomorrow because they are not dirty enough or been worn long enough to need washing.

e1y1 · 17/11/2018 20:02

See, this hot water wash being bad for the envinroment thing annoys me a bit. Of course it requires more electricity to wash hot (I've checked my machine and sure enough it is just under double)

Yet they're promoting the heck out of electric cars, add this to the seer amount of gadgets we have that require electricity along with blazing lit shops and offices with lights and computers et al, at all times of day and night. Then with supposedly "sustainable" renewable electricity - when does washing hot become the enemy.

Fair enough you can "clean" laundry at 30, but look at the amount of chemicals that manufacturers push to achieve this (so of course they're only too glad to say save the envinroment), can you remember your mother or Grandmother needing - plastic! Laundry capsules or thick gels, a heap of Vanish, stain remover products, whitener products smelly laundry beads, Dettol laundry cleanser and THEN washing machine cleaner products for your "maintenance wash" not to forget softener and whatever else you can think of.

No they sure did not, a box of Ariel automatic, a boil wash and away they went. So who does the wash at 30 really benefit?

Not to add, how many clothes and washing machines are being thrown out, perhaps prematurely, due to either clothes that are stained or machines that are gunked up from oh so environmentally friendly cool washes or chemical corrosion - worse for the environment.

We had washers and clothes at home +20 years old, only now do you get 3 or so years out of them.

30 degrees is 7 degrees BELOW body temperature- how is this going to clean your clothes??? You know what'd happen if you washed your dishes in water this cool.

I could be being a bit dim, but it's often touted that doing 1 or 2 hot washes a month is single handedly going to destroy the planet and I don't get it when you look at everything else considered.

redsummershoes · 17/11/2018 20:23

Also what do you do with things that you have worn but are going to wear again before you wash them? Do you put them back in the wardrobe/drawers with the clean stuff?

never back in suitcase. apparently that encourages clothes moths.
clothes that can be worn again get folded into a basket by the bed.

redsummershoes · 17/11/2018 20:23

argh not suitcase - wardrobe I mean

Jiggy16 · 17/11/2018 21:01

Can I ask how people get their towels nice after washing without the tumble dryer? If hanging inside (due to living where it rains all the time and don't have much space outside anyway) they always end up really hard and crispy, usually stuck in the shape of the bannister/radiator!
Also, why do most people wash towels that have mainly been used to dry clean bodies at 60, yet bedding is washed at 40? I was both at 60. (I understand flannels/kitchen towels are different) sorry just trying to figure out how to cut down my usage!

Jiggy16 · 19/11/2018 01:09

Anybody??

Vitalogy · 19/11/2018 03:35

@Jiggy16 I dry mine on a clothes horse. They're these ones from Dunelm. You can buy the single towels, you don't need to buy the whole bale. They seem to stay soft. I know they say don't use fabric conditioner on towels but maybe try half the amount that you'd put in a normal wash. I've done this with other types of towels and they've still been ok with absorbency.

I suppose the 60 thing is to kill the bacteria, skin cell and what have you.

www.dunelm.com/product/white-egyptian-cotton-towel-bale-1000118661

MissMooMoo · 19/11/2018 07:22

I use the tumble dryer for towels so can't help there, unless you have a dryer!

girlandboy · 19/11/2018 07:43

@e1y1

Because modern washing powders and liquids don't need a high temperature to wash well unlike in Grandma's time.
Also modern fabrics don't stand up to a boil wash so well. 100% cotton will, but most is mixed with polyester now and can't take the temperature.

redsummershoes · 19/11/2018 07:46

for infection control some things still need to be washed hot (60 at least).
bedding, towels, nurses uniform, pants

DaffydownClock · 19/11/2018 08:17

If your towels need washing after a single use then I suggest you need to learn to wash yourself properly!
Ours get washed weekly, as does bedding.
Otherwise pants and socks daily change, bras after two or three wears, other clothing probably after two or three wears.
The lack of regard for the environment and sheer over-consumption/ use of detergents and water on here is shocking.

ImogenTubbs · 19/11/2018 08:48

Towels, bedding, bath mats washed once a week at 60 or 75 degrees. Kitchen tea towel/ hand towel get changed every other day. We are just three people though so things don't get too gross.

Pants and socks after each wear. Usually tops get washed after each wear but sometimes in the winter I feel they don't need it if it's a jumper and I was wearing it over a long sleeved t-short, for example. Trousers get worn three or four times.

DD's clothes (she is 5) usually get washed after each wear but that is partly because I am training her to clean up after herself and that involves putting dirty washing in the laundry basket.

ginexplorer · 20/11/2018 07:08

I’ve been pretty sensible about this - so once a week towel wash usually for us. Try and encourage family to use own towels but of course they sometimes hang up on banister to dry and then forget which one. Never thought it a problem until one child got a skin infection. Then another soon after. Swabbed and diagnosed with MRSA infection and then further lab tests showed PVL. Not trying to scaremonger at all. But in kids that play close contact sports this can happen or - hospital/a&e visits. So we now all have treatment for 5 days- all bed linen is supposed to be washed daily - jeez! And towels same. Hoover daily aswell. All to prevent any spread. So whilst in the main daily washing is totally silly- I would encourage good hygiene , handwashing and separate towels - especially with very sporty kids. Or ones that visit hospitals a lot!!

itsbritneybiatches · 20/11/2018 07:24

We don't have our own towels.
We grab the driest one and they are all washed every couple of days.

Only my daughter who is five has her own towel because it's got cat ears on.

elQuintoConyo · 20/11/2018 08:19

We're very much a scratch 'n' sniff kinda household here.

Mondays we alternate washing towels/bed linen. Clothes are washed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Neither of us separates colours, unless we're washing a new pair of dark jeans or something, then maybe we'll separate.

None of us in the house owns anything white.

We aren't dead. Neither are we flush enough to keep using so much leccy, water and detergent on washing unecessarily. Nor do we want to.

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